Archive for the ‘Fiction’ Tag

For writers and serious readers, George Saunders is anything but a newcomer. Saunders published his first short story with The New Yorkerback in 1992, and his new stories have regularly debuted in the magazine’s Fiction section ever since. Over the years, he has gained the reputation of being a “writer’s writer,” with authors like Tobias Wolff saying about Saunders: “He’s been one of the luminous spots of our literature for the past 20 years.” But despite his literary accomplishments, and despite winning the prestigious MacArthur award in 2006, George Saunders never quite became a household name until January 6 of this year. On that day,The New York Times published an article with the title, “George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You’ll Read This Year,” a pretty bold declaration given that 2013 still had 359 days to go. Since then, Saunders has found himself in the limelight talking about Tenth of December, his newly-published collection of short stories. You can watch him give a reading at Google above, or make appearances on the PBS News Hour and The Colbert Report.

If you’re not familiar with Saunders’ writing, then we have you covered. Below we’ve collected 10 stories by the author, all free to read online. Even better, the list features three stories from Tenth of December, including the story after which the book takes its name. All stories from the new collection have an asterisk next to the title.

Whether you’re a first time novelist needing help writing a novel or a published author looking for a few solid tips for writing a novel that will elevate your prose, we are here to help. That’s why we pulled together these eight amazing tips that you need to consider when you start writing a novel.

Many guides to writing a novel will offer the advice, Start your story with action, but what does that really mean? Is it true? It’s more important to focus on other key elements, especially concrete advice, like the ones provided here in 8 Ways to Write the Perfect Chapter One. Plus, the tips ring true no matter what kind of novel you are writing.

Whether you’re looking to learn how to write a horror novel, how to write a crime novel or how to write a best selling fantasy novel, you’re really just looking to learn how to write a successful novel—and this free download will start you off on the right foot.

If you’re already in the process of outlining a novel, take a minute to stop and make sure doing everything you need to be doing in your Chapter One, like introducing your main character the right way and enticing the audience with a mini-plot (both are covered in the giveaway). Download this collection of tips to get started writing good novels today!

Resist terror. Writing a first chapter is just as scary as it is exciting. You hear things like “one wrong move will kill your chances with an agent or editor.” Getting over that fear is a key step into moving your story forward and this section provides ways to do just that.

Decide on tense and point of view. Once upon a time, writers used to pick one point of view and a tense and roll with it. But many modern writers, including John Grisham, have broken the mold and found ways to skillfully drive their narrative by mixing points of view and even tenses. Chapter One is when this decision needs to be made for your novel. The tips on how to write the opening of a novel in this download will guide you to choosing what’s best for your story.

Choose a natural starting point. When writing fiction, your possibilities on how to open the first page of your book seem limitless—and they are. With so many options, making the decision on when and where to open your story can be stressful, though. Let us help take some of the stress out of it by sharing these best practices on how to find the perfect place to start your novel. If fact, trying these methods may leave you with additional scenes that aren’t right for the beginning, but are exactly what you need later in your story.

Present a strong character right away. When writing your first novel, you need to avoid certain pitfalls that are common for first-time novelists. A key indication to agents that this is your first book is if you try to lure the reader in by holding back the main character. This is a mistake. You need to establish your main character early so readers have a chance to connect with him or her. Get the questions that you need to be asking (and answering) yourself about your main character to make sure you don’t hide too much and leave your readers unconnected.

I recently subscribed to the blog, Writing Your Destiny by Karen R. Wan. I find her advice not only helpful, but soothing. As a fiction writer, I often find myself feeling anxious that I have written the best possible story, the best possible way. It is nice to find a coach, if you will, that gives encouragement in a zen sort of way. Karen’s blog does just this, creating a feng shui state of mind that leaves me feeling eager to get back to work on the novel that has sat in my computer for, oh my, years now.

This is a monthly blog that I have subscribed to for more than a year. I met Randy Ingermanson at a writer’s conference in October of 2010 and was so impressed by him, that I bought his book, Writing Fiction for Dummies.

Below, find links to his website as well this month’s E-zine installment. I think you will find Mr. Ingermanson’s advise to writers worth a look.